Record of meeting - Thursday, 12 December 2013

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Chair
Prime Minister, the Hon Tony Abbott MP
Mr Dale Elphinstone
Attendees
Treasurer, the Hon Joe Hockey MP
Minister for Industry, the Hon Ian MacFarlane MP
Premier of Tasmania, the Hon Lara Giddings MP

Item One: Introduction

  • The Prime Minister opened the meeting, and welcomed all attendees to the first meeting of the Council.

Item Two: Terms of reference

  • The Council discussed the terms of reference and agreed to some minor changes.
  • The Council agreed that the Prime Minister and Mr Dale Elphinstone would be joint chairs of the Council. As a general rule, it was agreed that the Prime Minister would chair meetings held in Canberra and Mr Elphinstone would chair meetings held in Tasmania.

Action item:

  • The Prime Minister and Treasurer to finalise the terms of reference.

Item Three: Membership

  • The Council agreed that there would be nine members on the Council including the Prime Minister, Mr Dale Elphinstone, the Treasurer, the Minister for Industry, the Premier of Tasmania, the Chair of the Tasmanian Major Projects Approval Agency, and three additional individuals from the Tasmanian business community.
  • The Council agreed to a short list of potential members to represent the Tasmanian business community.

Action item:

  • Mr Dale Elphinstone agreed to test the interest of short-listed members.
  • Pending the outcome of these discussions, it was agreed that the Prime Minister would appoint members to the council.

Item Four: Logistics for the next meeting

  • The Council agreed that, following appointment of the additional council members, the Tasmanian business members would meet in February, prior to the next council meeting, to agree on two to three priority areas for action to be discussed at the next meeting.
  • It was agreed that the next full meeting of the Council would be held in March 2014, preferably in Tasmania.